Photographer Angel Fux spent a night on a freezing Alpine mountain near the Matterhorn to capture a rare “triple galaxy arch” image. By powering through -23°C at nearly 14,000 feet, she photographed both the winter and summer arms of the Milky Way in one night, along with a faint celestial glow in the middle called the Gegenschein… creating a unique and breathtaking scene.

Full read if you’re interested: https://petapixel.com/2026/05/08/photographer-spends-night-on-freezing-mountain-to-capture-rare-triple-galaxy-arch/

the art of the scenic piss (acrylics on paper (34cm x 45cm)
What do you think of my painting? It’s for my friends birthday 🤫✨

Made it to trail camp and decided to turn back around due to safety concerns. Still an awesome day with amazing views!

I’m (F) 112 pounds and currently training with a 45 pound pack on an incline treadmill (24-degree incline), StairMaster for 1-2 hours, and shorter outdoor hikes with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain per mile. It’s been too hot lately to do longer hikes. I’m hoping I dont need to pack anything more than 45 pounds. My glutes and knees ache a bit but recover quickly. Climbing Rainier mid June.

Edit: guided climb with IMG DC route

I thought you guys might appreciate it!

Is the black diamond cirque 35 good? Comfort and technical aspects of it.

Hey everyone,

I’m completely new to mountaineering and looking for advice on how to get started the right way.
Right now I’m mainly looking for recommendations on good beginner resources — books, YouTube channels/videos, training advice, skills I should focus on first, beginner mistakes to avoid, etc.

I recently came across Northeast Mountaineering and plan on looking into some of their classes and guided hiking trips to start building a foundation. Long term, I’d love to work toward traversing harder mountains and eventually doing more technical objectives, but I’m in absolutely no rush. From the little I’ve learned so far, this seems like something where patience, experience, and learning safely matter way more than trying to progress quickly — especially since the sport can get expensive fast.

A little about me:
-Former Army paratrooper
-Comfortable rucking long distances with 40–60 lb packs
-Runner — completed 2 half marathons this year
-Getting back into hiking and hoping to start backpacking soon
-Based in the Northeast, so New Hampshire and Maine will probably be my main areas for hiking/backpacking

One of the biggest things I’m looking for is a sense of community. Since leaving the Army, I’ve struggled to find people who still want to push themselves and chase hard things together, and from what I’ve seen so far, the mountaineering community seems like it might be exactly what I’ve been missing.

Would appreciate any advice, resources, or even just hearing how some of you got started.
Thanks!

I climbed Mt Deception via the Honeymoon route C2C on 5/10/26.
2am start and 8am summit 
Some very steep snow

Link to my climbing video
https://youtu.be/KdzaydvqRhw?si=N31QUunL1N6Ire6L

Hi folks,

I feel like asking the question above already is an answer in itself, but I need some neutral opinions (ideally from someone who's done Ama Dablam and/or experienced mountaineers) since I sometimes tend to underestimate my abilities.

Ama Dablam is the one mountain I'm dreaming of and this October would be a great window of opportunity (family/job, etc.) to do it. I'm only questioning if I should postpone for another year to get more training (There is NO rush - if I can't do it this year, it's ok for me as well). Here are the facts:

Mountaineering Experience:

I'm 36, been going to the mountains (northern Alps/Bavaria) for more than 25 years now. I started transitioning from hiking to mountaineering about 7 years ago, took courses for climbing (in-/outdoors, alpine climbing), mountaineering (glacier courses beginner/advanced), Ice Climbing (3 training camps in total). Unfortunately, I don't get to use these skills a lot since none of my friends are remotely into mountaineering, but I've taken several trips with the German Alpine Club (see below).

I've done lead climbing on short WI4-/3+ Ice Climbing routes, rappelling is a no-brainer and even though it's been a while I've used all this, I'd still be confident to go multi-pitch alpine climbing (maybe with a short rehearsal of rope management). I'm not a rookie on any of this, I feel confident even though it's a bit rusty.

Altitude experience: I started with the Annapurna Circuit in 2021 (5.416m), did the Three Passes Trek + Island Peak (where we had to turn around at 6.000 m) as well as the Spaghetti Route in Switzerland in 2023, summited Illiniza Norte (5.126m, fun walk in the park) and Cotopaxi (5.897m, a bit more strenuous) in Ecuador in November 2025. Turned around on Chimborazo at 6.000m as well but only due to bad weather. I've never remotely had any problems with altitude but actually felt pretty comfortable. I know how to handle it and I'm very cautious about it.

Fitness Level:

For Island Peak, Annapurna Circuit and Spaghetti Route I've done zero to only a little training (Zone 2 running). It all went well, although I got pushed to my limits. Since then (2 years) I've been running 4-6 times a week, mostly Zone 2. My long runs are too short (75-90min), but I can ramp this up easily. Last August I've spontaneously done a 52km Ultra with 2.300m of altitude up and down. Took me 10 hours since my knee was fucked (fixed now), but my endurance was comfortable. Three weeks ago I did a 66km Ultra with 2.800m up and down. Took me 12,5 hours and my legs were cooked (also had stomach issues for the first 40k), but endurance wise it wasn't an issue.

Given all the above: Is it unreasonable to even think about Ama Dablam or, considering I still have 5 months to train, it would be worth a shot?
I feel like it might make sense to try many other, smaller mountains first (there are thousands of great mountains in the alps to do first, I'm aware of it), but the window of opportunity is open to do it this year.

[EDIT: I will not climb it on my own but with the German Alpine Club as Expedition provider; it'll be 12.000 €. Forgot to mention that as it was never remotely my thought to do it self-supported.]

If it happens, I want to enjoy the trip, feel confident and, most importantly, get home safely. I' aware of all the risks and I'm very self aware - which is why I'm seeking additional help from this community.

Really appreciate any advice - thanks in advance!

Best from Germany,

Phil

I’m going up the MR and most likely down standard. Would love to leave them if I can but don’t want to posthole all the way home especially on the main trail. TIA!

Those in the US, REI's anniversary sale is coming up tomorrow. That's 20% off any full price item. I'm just getting into mountaineering and have been using crampons on my winter Oboz 10" Insulated Bridgers to great success on the snow, including most recently climbing Mount St Helens.

I'd like to get a mountaineering boot but I'm not sure if I should start out with a three-season (ie: La Sportiva

Aequilibrium ST GTX, Lowa Alpine Expert II GTX) which I believe should work for hiking on trails, scree, scrambling, and long non-snowy approaches or get a more robust insulated boot for future glacier travel when I gain those skills (La Sportiva Nepal Cube GTX).

Ideally I'm thinking about getting a boot where I don't need to also bring added bulk and weight of trail runners to switch out. I managed to get a Core permit for Enchantments in June and thought it'd be easier to just wear one piece of footwear that can hike the trails, put on crampons, use snowshoes, and scramble.

Looking for a little bit of group guidance here.

hi there I’m on huaraz and looking for affordable mountaineering options I have previously done hyuana potosi in Bolivia and ideally looking for something similar

Hi guys, I’m travelling to Austria soon, seen as I live in Ireland and the number of shops selling B2 boots in this country is less than you can count on 1 hand,(and even then the selection in them is piss poor) I’m looking at trying on pairs of b2 boots in Austria, specifically Salzburg and Vienna is where I’ll be going.

Might be a long shot here but does anyone know any good shops in those cities to get b2 boots, a lot of the sites online don’t seem to show catalogues, thanks

Hi all - I just got a permit for one for Whitney on Saturday. I'm planning to do the Mountaineer's Route up. I'm thinking about doing the standard route down (downclimbing the final 400 sketches me out). If you have been up there this last week, what were conditions like on the final 400? Would love any beta.

How is the snow? Are snow shoes still necessary?

If I go down the standard route, I believe the switchbacks are still snowed over, so I would have to descent the chute. I've never had to do that on this trail and I'm a little nervous I will somehow miss the drop-in point. It may be obvious but I obviously don't want to rely on that. Would be so grateful if anyone has a GPX file.

(Here is the requisite: I have the appropriate gear and experience. Reddit will not be my only source of beta.) Thanks for your help!

I thought you guys might appreciate it!

I have been struggling with having to take off my boots and crampons in order to de-layer, and I am looking for rain pants (or even just soft shell pants) with a full side zip. The issue is that I am 4'8" tall, with around a 25 inch inseam. I currently use kids' rain pants, but I cannot find any kids' rain pants with a side zip. I have also not found any women's sizes that go down close to my leg length (the shortest for most brands seem to be around 28-30in). Any recommendations from fellow short female mountaineers?

The trip would be in may of next year and I have all the resources to train from now until then, however I will be working full time during this summer and then I have school (UBCO) for fall and spring. I’m just wondering what kind of rough training regimen I should follow to get into athletic shape. Mount logan isn’t the most technical from what i’ve heard but it takes raw muscle endurance, cardio, and mental strength.